"If you SEO it, they will come." But what happens if they come and you haven't built anything they'd want to use? Are you building your site for robots or for humans?

Well, it’s been winter down here. And I mean really winter, with white stuff on the ground and all. The weather man had been going on for a solid week about a legitimate winter storm that was headed our way, which led to some serious reflection about my wardrobe deficiencies. Specifically, I need a new coat.
I poked around on eBay, visited the usual men’s stores online (Banana Republic, the Gap, maybe J Crew for good measure) and all the real contenders were based on military field jackets. So I figured I could save some coin and go the military surplus route. I fired up the Google, did a quick search, opened up the top 3 results in different tabs, and then starting digging through those sites to investigate some M65 field jackets.
Here’s one of Google’s top 3 matches for my search (sanitized so as not to be incriminating):
Ok, so here’s my field jacket. It looked somewhat promising, so I scanned around a bit wanting to know more about it. I Clicked on the image, no enlargement. Looked around, no other product views. Fine, I guess I’ll read.
Well, I tried to read. But what I found was a mass of SEO text designed for robots instead of humans. So I did what any reasonable person would do when unexpectedly confronted by robots–I ran! (Well, I closed the tab).
Clearly this company has invested in Search Engine Optimization for their website, and that’s paid off for them by placing it high in Google’s search results. But the crucial step they missed was creating a comfortable and informative environment that would lead me to purchase their product. They’d gotten me there and immediately scared me away.
So let’s figure out what they did wrong:
1. Text Designed For Robots
2. No Image Enlargement
3. No Additional Views
4. Navigation Designed for Robots
5. Poorly Designed Checkout
6. Call To…
So, yeah, I can complain. It’s not a special skill, but I try. But rather than just complain, let me show you a few simple things I’d do differently to create a more positive user experience and still retain SEO robustness.
1. Product Description Improvements
Remember that awful prison of text from before? Check it out now. For those interested in scanning (and that’s most of us), the important features are easy to find in short and concise bulleted format. If you decide you want to read the full text, you’re greeted by a much more personal sales pitch. Note that I’ve maintained a lot of the SEO value of the text, just worked in the keywords in a way that humans can understand.
What We’ve Learned: Use friendly and personal wording in the description paragraph to add value to the product, and short, direct text in the bullets to outline its features or specifications.
2. Image Enlargement
I think most users just try clicking on something to see if it works, but in case you need to read about it there’s the “enlarge” text and icon to make it clear. A little zoom goes a long way.
What We’ve Learned: Its not hard to show users more and give them more of an in-store experience with your product.
3. Multiple Views
I can see the fabric detail now! And the heavy-duty zipper! And the thumbnails show me what I’m getting myself into before I click! Hurrah!
What We’ve Learned: Its not hard to show users more and give them more of an in-store experience with your product.
4. Menu Improvements
I’ve also taken the products out of alphabetical order and listed them by (what I imagine is) their importance. This is another easy way to help users get to where they want to go quickly and without a lot of thought.
Consolidating some of the menu items has also allowed me to space out the items so that they’re identified as distinct groups of words and not a giant wad of text.
But where did all that great SEO-enriched content go?!? It’s in the footer where I don’t have to look at it. But don’t worry, it’s not lost. A good web developer can help the robots to see all of those glorious words first while keeping them out of the way of your average guy on a couch who just wants a decent jacket.
What We’ve Learned: Everything can’t be at the top. Use appropriate menu hierarchies with broad top-level categories to help users find what they’re looking for faster.
5. Improved Checkout
Hey, look! It’s a concrete price! I’ve also taken the Visa and Mastercard logos out of the sidebar and included them in the purchase are where they are more relevant. I’m assuming they only take those two cards. If not, I’d expect them to show all payment methods here (and I’d suggest adding Paypal to the mix). While it’s not obvious in my mock-up, I’d rely on some scripting so that choosing a size only updates the purchase area instead of reloading the whole page.
What We’ve Learned: Make checkout clear and simple. Every step of the process and every complication is an invitation for the purchaser to leave the transaction.
6. No More Calling
Sure there are sickos out there that just love talking on the phone, but talking on the phone is no longer a part of the ordering process. Ideally, hitting “continue” on this page would forward you to a shopping cart page showing this item in your order. Shopping cart pages are typically pretty bare, and would be a great place to tell the purchaser about combined shipping in hopes they’ll go back and add more products. Information about turnaround time might also be appropriate on that page (though advertising a turnaround time of up to 7 business days is hardly anything to brag about). I’d save things like a rush order option for a page where you can show me actual shipping cost and actual estimated delivery times, most likely that would be the payment page.
What We’ve Learned: Save information for the step where it would be appropriate to act on it. The phone is a nice backup, but don’t rely on it for any part of the checkout process.
Plan for Robots, Design for Humans
So much attention is paid to SEO and “driving traffic”, but what happens once your traffic gets there? Using the Field of Dreams analogy, what happens if they come and you haven’t built anything they’d want to use?
It’s entirely possible that you’re attracting stubborn and determined users who love complications, but let’s face it–you’re not. What you’re attracting is someone’s fleeting curiousity. A whim, a passing idea, an itch that at that very moment they’ve wondered if you can scratch. This is your one chance–and it won’t last long. Your goal is to create a clear and informative environment that’s inviting, will hold their attention, and will assure them that your product is the right one for them.
And it’s not that hard to meet those goals. With just a few minor adjustments in presentation, the same jacket that drove me away within seconds became something I probably would have purchased. It’s not really hard or complicated at all, and ought to be pretty easy for the average web store owner to implement. Yep, I’m pretty sure even my mom could pull this one off.